I have a really refined system, one that I've made countless improvements in from power delivery to chassis tuning to optimization of cabling...
It's really interesting because I have two systems and one uses a tube amp and preamp while the other uses an all-digital electronics chain. They both use power regenerators and similar cabling and both sound outrageously good.
That being said, in my view the all-digital system has the edge in dynamics and transient speed and it also sounds the most natural or realistic if your reference is live acoustic instruments including the human voice.
I have a truly excellent dual-mono 6SN7 tube line stage that I can instantly switch in and out of the all-digital system between the digital preamp and digital power amp and in the past, with certain combinations of cabling and AC filtering products it has made a marginal improvement in smoothness and musicality over a direct Balanced XLR connection. Although the improvement of the 6SN7 pre was small, I thought it worth having.
But recently, I added the PS Audio P3 Power Plant, Mojo Audio AC power cords on the preamp and amp, and the Wyred 4 Sound C2 Balanced XLR interconnects between the preamp and power amp. I did this in individual steps and each time I inserted a different piece, starting with the PS P3 Power Plant and adding in the different power cords and finally the interconnects and found there was an improvement in musicality, inner detailing and musical bloom.
In my recent comparisons between the direct XLR connection and the tube line amp connection there is less of a difference and in fact the XLR connection offers slightly better dynamic punch and clarity with the same level of musicality. So at this point I'm thinking of removing the tube buffer entirely.
I still love my tube system for its great musicality and smoothness but for true musical realism I favor my evolved all-digital chain.
I think tubes provide smoothness in systems that have other problems that need to be masked. But once you eliminate the problems that cause grain and harshness, really good digital or solid-state electronics can provide a musical experience that is as good or even better than tubes. And I can listen to this system at a very healthy volume for hours without any listener fatigue.
My main problems with tubes (besides the inevitable tube rolling) is their treble and bass roll off at the extremes, their slight rounding of fast transients, and their inevitably higher noise floor. This translates into a smooth and musical but more muddled and less resolving musical presentation that can be had from the best solid-state or digital gear IMHO. YMMY, and I realize that many folks prefer a sweet, relaxing presentation that loses some detail and articulation in the process.
It's really interesting because I have two systems and one uses a tube amp and preamp while the other uses an all-digital electronics chain. They both use power regenerators and similar cabling and both sound outrageously good.
That being said, in my view the all-digital system has the edge in dynamics and transient speed and it also sounds the most natural or realistic if your reference is live acoustic instruments including the human voice.
I have a truly excellent dual-mono 6SN7 tube line stage that I can instantly switch in and out of the all-digital system between the digital preamp and digital power amp and in the past, with certain combinations of cabling and AC filtering products it has made a marginal improvement in smoothness and musicality over a direct Balanced XLR connection. Although the improvement of the 6SN7 pre was small, I thought it worth having.
But recently, I added the PS Audio P3 Power Plant, Mojo Audio AC power cords on the preamp and amp, and the Wyred 4 Sound C2 Balanced XLR interconnects between the preamp and power amp. I did this in individual steps and each time I inserted a different piece, starting with the PS P3 Power Plant and adding in the different power cords and finally the interconnects and found there was an improvement in musicality, inner detailing and musical bloom.
In my recent comparisons between the direct XLR connection and the tube line amp connection there is less of a difference and in fact the XLR connection offers slightly better dynamic punch and clarity with the same level of musicality. So at this point I'm thinking of removing the tube buffer entirely.
I still love my tube system for its great musicality and smoothness but for true musical realism I favor my evolved all-digital chain.
I think tubes provide smoothness in systems that have other problems that need to be masked. But once you eliminate the problems that cause grain and harshness, really good digital or solid-state electronics can provide a musical experience that is as good or even better than tubes. And I can listen to this system at a very healthy volume for hours without any listener fatigue.
My main problems with tubes (besides the inevitable tube rolling) is their treble and bass roll off at the extremes, their slight rounding of fast transients, and their inevitably higher noise floor. This translates into a smooth and musical but more muddled and less resolving musical presentation that can be had from the best solid-state or digital gear IMHO. YMMY, and I realize that many folks prefer a sweet, relaxing presentation that loses some detail and articulation in the process.